No Mlb Moves Since 1972

Answer Desk

July 24, 2001|By PERNELL WATSON Daily Press

Q: The Warner Hessler July 20 article on Major League Baseball coming to the area was interesting and led me to ask the following question: When was the last time a Major League Baseball franchise moved from one city to another? -- D.L., Hampton

A: Major League Baseball has not relocated a team since 1972, when the Washington Senators moved to Texas and became the Rangers.

Robert Earl Short, a wealthy lawyer and businessman from Minneapolis, owned the team. He earned his fortune in the trucking and hotel industries. He and his partner Jeno Paulucci of Minnesota beat out entertainer Bob Hope for the right to buy the Senators.

Short's three-year tenure as owner was rocky. Short claimed he lost $3 million over a three-year span despite averaging close to 800,000 in attendance those seasons. When he couldn't find a buyer to accept his $12.4 million asking price for the team, Short accepted an offer to move the team to Texas. On Sept. 20, 1971, Short received approval from American League owners to move the franchise from Washington, D.C., to Arlington, Texas, for the 1972 season. In 1974, Short sold the team to an investor group for $9.5 million plus assumption of $1 million of debt. Short died in 1982. He was 65.

FYI: Short purchased the Minneapolis Lakers in 1957 and moved them to Los Angeles, where he sold them to Jack Kent Cooke.